Directory cover



Feb. 4, 1969 M. FEDER 3,425,421

1 DIRECTORY COVER Filed Jan. 27, 1967 IBL. E

F IG.3.-

' INVENTOR Morton Fe der I as v Fl 6. 5

ORNEYS United States Patent 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A directory cover having a spine panel and front and rear panels of hard laminated plastic, with continuous metal hinges connecting the front and rear panels to the spine panel, "and a metal assembly for holding the directory, which assembly includes a metal spine riveted to the plastic spine panel and having two inwardly directed projections, a top swivel or hanger connected to one of the projections, and at least one stiff wire for holding a directory and having one end pivotally connected to one of the projections and the other end formed as a hook for insertion into an opening provided in the other projection, and an alternate suspension accessory unit provided when center suspension is desired.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to protective covers and particularly to covers for directories which are provided in public places.

It is known that directories, and particularly telephone directories, which are provided in public places are subject to damage primarily because they receive heavy use. In addition, directories provided at totally exposed outdoor telephone installations are vulnerable to damage by the elements. Moreover, such directories are likely to be stolen or damaged by vandals.

Many types of protective covers have already been proposed for protecting such directories against these sources of damage and theft. However, none of the covers which have thus far been suggested has been found to provide complete protection for such directories.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide improved protection for directories disposed in public places.

Another object of the present invention is to provide improved weather protection for directories provided at outdoor installations.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide covers in which directories can be replaced in a rapid and simple manner.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a protective cover which can be mounted at an installation in a variety of ways.

Summary of the invention These and other objects according to the present invention are achieved by a protective directory cover composed essentially of an outer shell, a metal spine, and a directory holding wire. The outer shell includes substantially rigid front and rear panels, a spine panel, and continuous hinges pivotally connecting the front and rear panels to the spine panel. The metal spine is substantially coextensive with, and rigidly connected to the inside surface of, the spine panel and has inwardly projecting top and bottom portions at respective ends thereof. The directory holding wire has, at one end, a loop pivotally held by the bottom portion, and, at its other end, a hook engageable in the top portion. The wire is preferably provided with a plurality of indentations which are directed toward the metal spine for enabling the wire to 3,425,421 Patented Feb. 4, 1969 firmly grip a directory When its hook is engaged in the top portion.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a plan view of one embodiment according to the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane defined by the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a modified form of construction of a portion of the arrangement of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 with a directory inserted.

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of one element of the embodiment of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3.

Description of the preferred embodiments FIGURE 1 shows a protective cover according to the present invention in its open position. This cover is composed of two basic assemblies: an exterior shell constituted by front panel 3, spine panel 5 and rear panel 7; and a metal assembly constituted essentially by a spine 11 and a holding wire 15.

The front panel 3 and rear panel 7 are connected to the spine panel 5 by means of continuous hinges 9 which are riveted to the various panels by steel semitubular rivets 8. The hinges are preferably constituted by commercial type continuous aluminum hinges because hinges of this type are highly resistant to rust and corrosion and afford easy opening and closing of the cover. The steel rivets 8 are preferably black zinc plated and have a diameter of /8 of an inch, these rivets being of a sufiicient length to fully clinch so as to provide a strong and durable assembly.

Each of the panels 3, 5 and 7 is preferably made of three laminated layers 21, 22 and 23. These layers are preferably made of a rigid, high heat distortion modified polyvinyl chloride plastic material. Layer 22 is preferably made thicker than either of the other two layers and the thickness of all three layers is selected to give each panel an overall thickness of the order of .093 inch. Panels of this type not only possess a high degree of rigidity which provides physical protection for the directory, but are also highly resistant to temperature extremes.

" The outer surface of each panel is preferably embossed with a pin seal finish and may be provided in a variety of colors. If it is desired to add printed matter to the front panel 3, and possibly to the rear panel 7, the pin seal grain of the surface portion to be imprinted may be debossed by applying electrically heated plates thereto, under pressure. This treatment produces a smooth area which can be readily printed. Printing is preferably carried out by a silk screen process employing vinyl inks which have the property of etching into the plastic surface so as to produce a permanent impression.

After all the panels have been manufactured, all of their edges are machined smooth to eliminate any sharp edges which might injure those using the directory.

The finished cover may be provided in a variety of sizes depending on the size of the directory which is to be held. For example, the spine panel might be given a width of between 3 inch and 3 inches which corresponds to the thickness of the assembled cover, while the front and rear panels may be given dimensions of between 6% x 10 inches and 10 X 12 inches.

The above described form of construction for the panels is particularly advantageous when the cover is to be used outdoors. According to another form of construction, which is well suited for covers to be used indoors, the entire outer cover is fabricated by electronically heat sealing a piece of .032 gauge virgin vinyl to a piece of .017 gauge virgin vinyl over pre-cut panels and spine of pasted chipboard having a thickness of the order of .120 inch. To give greater strength and durability to the hinge formed between the panels and spine, a strip of vinyl impregnated nylon scrim is preferably added between the layers of vinyl during the electronic heat sealing process. This vinyl film may be supplied in a variety of colors and grain finishes, although a simulated seal skin grain is most often used. Those surface areas of the front and rear panels which are to be imprinted are preferably debossed in the manner previously described and these surface areas may be imprinted, also in the manner previously described.

The metal assembly shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 includes a metal spine 11 having a projecting bottom portion 12 and a projecting top portion 13, both end portions being formed by suitably bending the originally flat metal strip from which the spine is made. The spine may be made, for example, from cold rolled strip steel. This strip preferably has a width of either /2, 1 or 2 inches, depending on the desired thickness of the finished cover. The metal spine may be given its final shape by a punch and die operation.

The holding wire 15 for holding the directory is provided at one end with a loop which is pivotally held in portion 12. For this purpose, portion 12 is provided with two openings separated by a strip, the loop passing through the two openings and around the strip. The other end of wire 15 is formed as a hook and is arranged to be inserted in a suitable opening in portion 13. The openings in portions 12 and 13, as well as the configuration of the loop and hook portions of wire 15, are most clearly shown in FIGURE 2.

Wire 15 is preferably made of spring steel and its length is determined by the size of the directory to be held. This wire may be fabricated, for example, by punch forming a high tensile strength, nickel plated steel, music spring wire of .094 diameter. The wire is provided with a plurality of indentations 15 which are directed toward the spine 11 and which act as grippers to hold a directory in place.

The shape of the wire in its unstressed state is shown in FIGURE 5, while the configuration which it assumes when holding a directory is shown in FIGURE 4.

On smaller size covers a special clip, which may be formed from cold rolled strip steel, may be placed at the top and bottom of the spine metal to insure that the directory will be properly held in place. These clips, after being formed by a punch and die operation, are preferably subjected to a suitable finishing operation to remove any sharp edges which might be present on their exposed surfaces and are then preferably zinc plated to resist rust and corrosion.

For attaching the resulting cover on a rod, there is provided a top swivel or hanger 17 having the form shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, this swivel being riveted to the upper surface of the top portion 13 of spine 11. Either one or two rivets may be used, the number of rivets employed depending on the width of spine 11. These rivets 18 may be constituted by 7 inch diameter steel semitubular rivets having a length suflicient to pass through the two layers of the swivel 17 and the outermost section of portion 13 and to be fully clinched. Because it is desirable that the swivel 17 has superior strength, it is preferably made of a high tensile strength metal such as chrome molybdenum steel.

After the swivel has been riveted to the spine 11 and the spine has been given its final configuration, the entire unit of the spine 11 and swivel 17 is preferably zinc plated to render it highly resistant to rust and corrosion. The loop portion of wire 15, which portion initially has the form shown in FIGURE 5, is then inserted through the opening in spine portion 12 and is closed so as to provide a permanent connection between the wire 15 and the spine 11.

The metal assembly is then in condition to be attached to spine panel 5. For this purpose, both the spine panel 5 and the spine 11 are provided with suitable openings and are joined together by a plurality of rivets 19 which may be constituted by inch steel semitubular rivets and which are suitably set to assure a solid connection.

For some applications, it might be desirable for the cover of the present invention to be capable of being suspended at its center. To this end, the center rivet connecting the spine 11 to the panel 5 may be constituted by a specially designed tubular rivet 19', which may be a 4 inch aluminum tubular rivet, for example, having a thread taped through its hollow central opening. For suspending the cover from its middle, there is provided, preferably in an accessory package, a separate wire hook 20 having a shank portion which is threaded to engage the threaded bore of rivet 19 and a nut 20', which is also provided in the accessory package. The loop of hook 20 is arranged to be permanently connected to a chain 24, or similar device, which is securely fastened to the installation with which the directory is associated. The wire hook 20 may be made of cold heading steel wire, while the nut 20 may be in the form of a cadmium plated hex nut, the nut acting as a locking device for the book 20. It has been found that a suitable connection can be achieved if the bore of rivet 19', the shank of hook 20, and the bore of nut 20' all are provided with a 10-32 thread. Wire 20 and nut 20" are preferably cadmium plated and packaged in a separate plastic bag for shipment with the cover. This bag may be attached to the wire 15 to prevent loss or damage during shipment.

FIGURE 4 shows the appearance of the finished cover and its associated wire 15 after a directory 30 has been placed in position and locked by the insertion of the hook end of wire 15 into the opening in the spine portion 13.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, there is shown a modified form of construction for the metal assembly to be used in covers according to the present invention. The form of construction here shown is particularly well suited for holding a plurality of directories in a single cover. For this purpose, the metal spine 11 is provided with a base portion 12' having a plurality of pairs of openings, and a top portion 13' having a corresponding plurality of openings. Each of the pairs of openings in base portion 12' is arranged to receive the loop end of a respective one of the holding wires 15, while each opening in top portion 13' is arranged to receive the hook portion of a corresponding one of these wires, each wire being provided for holding a respective directory. The configuration of each of the wires 15 is shown most clearly in FIGURE 5.

It should of course be appreciated that although three wire 15 are shown in the embodiment of FIGURE 3, any number of wires other than, but less than, three could be employed.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 3 also differs from that in FIGURES l and 2 in that, in place of the swivel 17, there is provided a pro-formed wire hook 26 which is welded to the outer surface of top portion 13'. Of course, a swivel 17 could be riveted to portion 13' in place of hook 26, or hook 26 could be substituted for the swivel 17 in the embodiments of FIGURES 1 and 2.

Spine 11' is provided with suitable openings for receiving rivets by means of which it is attached to its associated spine panel.

Covers provided with a hook 26 in place of the swivel 17 are particularly well suited for use on indoor installations.

It will 'be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes, and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A protective directory cover comprising, in combination:

(a) an outer shell composed of substantially rigid, flat front and rear panels and a rigid flat spine panel, each of said panels being constituted by three larninated rigid layers of polyvinylchloride material;

(b) two continuous piano hinges each having one side connected to said spine panel so as to be substantially coplanar therewith and its other side connected to a respective one of said front and rear panels so as to be substantially coplanar therewith, each said hinge extending substantially the full length of said cover;

(c) a metal spine substantially co-extensive with, and rigidly connected to the inside surface of, said spine panel and having inwardly projecting top and bottom portions at respective ends thereof;

(d) at least one directory-holding wire, having at one end a loop pivotally held by said bottom portion and, at its other end, a hook engageable in said top portion;

(e) a center rivet having a threaded opening at its center and extending through, and fastened between, said spine panel and said spine at a point located intermediate the ends thereof; and

(f) a wire hook having a shank portion threaded to mate with said threaded opening and a threaded nut threaded to the top of said shank portion, said wire hook being detachably engaged in said threaded opening for connecting said directory cover to a telephone installation.

2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said wire is provided with a plurality of indentations directed toward said metal spine for firmly gripping a directory when the spine of such directory is disposed between said spine and said wire and when said hook is engaged in said top portion.

3. An arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein, for holding said loop, said bottom portion is provided with two openings separated by a metal strip and said loop passes through said openings and around said strip.

4. An arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein said top portion is provided with an opening for receiving said hook.

5. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein there are provided a plurality of holding wires disposed parallel to one another for holding a plurality of directories within a single cover.

'6. An arrangement as defined in cla m 1, further comprising a metal swivel rigidly connected to said top portion of said spine and having a rod-receiving opening 'for connection to the pivot rod of a public telephone installation.

7. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, further comprising a chain-receiving wire loop welded to said top portion for connection to the chain, or similar device, of a public telephone installation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 767,277 8/1904 Huelster 129-38 1,014,926 1/1912 Westervelt 129-38 1,877,831 9/1932 Franz 129-38 1,889,536 11/1932 Buchan 129-38 1,953,334 4/1934 Buchan 129-38 X 2,149,801 3/1939 Thornton 129-38 2,390,125 12/1945 Schade 281-29 2,841,152 7/1958 Popper 129-38 2,862,329 12/ 1958 Guinane et al. 3,151,886 10/1964 Grant et a1. 129-38 X 3,190,678 6/1965 Peterson, et al 281-29 3,206,225 9/ 1965 Oleson 281-29 JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 281-29 

